What my participants really need to hear.

I will miss you guys.

I was inspired after reading a post by teacher, coach, and writer, Chase Mielke, called What Students Really Need to Hear. He says, look, I know you might think school is pointless right now, but there will be main events in life that you will not be able to ignore so you might as well start with school. I’m going to discuss his piece, then give you mine… Now, before I graduate on Thursday, and before you are no longer my participants.

Embed from Getty Images

Mielke articulates how the curriculum is NOT the main event, but he uses his classroom as a microcosm to how students set themselves up to face adversity in the real world. He worries that his students are preparing themselves to give up when real life gets difficult; when they need to take charge of fear and doubt to conquer the true “main event”.

His piece is not an attack on the system, nor is this the best approach for all students by any means, but this IS one teacher taking accountability for his particular students. The ones he interacts with everyday and has made connections with. To this teacher, each student’s success could not possibly be measured by a grade. One of my former professors recently blogged about this– about making connections with students;  being a transformative teacher. Dr. Enszer writes:

I want students to experience at the end of the semester that my class has transformed their thinking and their mode of engagement in the world AND (equally important), in twenty or thirty years when they reflect back on their undergraduate education, they believe that their work in my class was transformative and an important component of shaping their life work.

This aligns with Mielke’s wish– the classroom has potential to be a place where real change happens. In Dr. Enszer’s class, Theories of Feminism no less, I learned to take my thoughts and ideas seriously. Even when they came out as a hot mess of intersectional jargon (I mean, it’s feminist theory) I felt respected, and heard. I showed up because my presence meant something to the class as a whole. I met amazing, interesting, and smart, students that I never would have engaged with if not for the space Dr. Enszer created.

Mielke is not out to make reality any less harsh, or conceal the injustices students face to get by– If the education system’s purpose was to produce well-adjusted adults I don’t think he’d lose nearly as much sleep stressing about his class.

Instead he offers another idea; the way his students behave towards school, in many ways, parallels how they’ll face adulthood. He sees school as an opportunity for students to learn how to not quit on themselves even if school goes horribly wrong because the “main event” here is adversity. And at some point, everyone needs someone to say I believe in you. Unconditionally.

…As long as you are in my life, I am not going to let quitting be easy for you.  I am going to challenge you, confront you, push you, and coach you.  You can whine.  You can throw a tantrum.  You can shout and swear and stomp and cry.  And the next day, guess what?  I will be here waiting — smiling and patient — to give you a fresh start.  Because you are worth it. –Chase Mielke “What Students Really Need to Hear”

I endeavor to be that instructor for my participants.

Yes, sometimes I cannot stand that instructor– the one who says keep going and smiles when you’re beyond done trying and are SO over it. But, whatever man, for this one hour you made it here so please let me ramble about technique, force you all to count out-loud in intervals while doing squat presses, and I hope you leave with pride– because you should.

I’ve learned that despite all the awkward eye contact, like right before the bicep track when a participant is holding the bar the wrong way there’s only so many times I could insist UNDERHAND GRIP– UNDERHAND GRIP– NO, NOT YOU, YOU, it’s worth it. Because you guys showed up, and you are worth it.

Do I always know what to say? No. But I do know how to teach this weight training class to anyone and everyone who wants to learn. I will tell sub-funny esoteric jokes to lighten the mood when it’s almost 11pm and everyone’s tired. Let me point out that at 11pm (on a Monday night no less) 45 of you people came to work out with me. Seriously? Do you know how difficult that is?

I don’t. Technically I have to be there. So, let me remind you ad infinitum how much I appreciate YOU for coming and just how strong each one of you are. Thank you. Thank you for coming and for coming back, for doing pushups when I say to, and for smiling back even though you might have every reason not to.

You were there on nights that I was overwhelmed with school, and nights when it wasn’t school, and just, thank you; I messed up choreography and forgot to demonstrate moves but you guys trusted me anyway. And I know school and not-school will happen to all of you. Whether I am aware of it or not, it’s okay, YOU are okay. The entire time.

I will continue to challenge all of you to the best of my ability and view your potential as limitless; just like you all have done for me.

By listening to you guys– I hear your stories, and I know it takes a ton of courage and strength to show up, and you have it. You express fears– what if someone sees me? And you know what, they just might, it’s a big university but it’s not that big. And I wish I could make that self conscious disappear. I want to thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone to be part of something great.

For those of you who stretched yourselves to get here and be part of our class you inspire me more than you know. I’m inspired by you to stretch myself in times when I’m scared or self conscious– to witness you do it every week is a blessing.

If you all didn’t show up the weights wouldn’t run out. Especially the 7.5 lb ones. Those weights ran out because you are stronger than you were before you started; we all are.

Keep showing up guys. Stay in touch. I am here for you. As always– thank you, and I hope you had nearly as much fun as I did.

 

An acceptable number of justifications: why I struggle to blog.

1. Energy

c’monnnnn…

Here is my energy spectrum. I am able to blog somewhere in the green part. I need to learn how to blog in yellow, and blue too.

2. Hazards 

Bring it on YouTube…

I struggle to sync my brain and my computer and one is always moving quicker than the other. It depends on the time of day, and the internet connection, and the weather… it has been quite nice out these days hasn’t it? Perfect day to look up acoustic covers on YouTube. And i’m probably behind a day or two on Colbert… Oh it’s only Monday, nevermind, don’t I have paper to finish? Wait. I should make sure I’m prepared to teach abs in a few hours— cue music. I’m hungry.

3. Intoxication

“That’s not funny, Mel.” -Mom

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that it’s dangerous to blog under the influence. I guess it’s a good thing I often forget my login passwords when my internal gatekeepers take the night off.

4. Hunger

Can you write and eat at the same time??

No really… I must count this as a justification. I can read and eat at the same time; I do this quite often. I’m usually not too attached to my fork to put it down and take a note here and there.

 I wonder if I were to download an audio book and listen to it while eating lunch… is that weird? Like i’m having lunch with a book ghost.

 

5. Introversion

I’m really not busy shhhhhh…

Blogging, for me, has been the friend you always bail on for absolutely no reason, but it’s kind of okay because she or he does the same thing to you. This goes on until you hang out, or it goes on forever but either way it’s boring… sometimes the texts reduce to little shout-outs once every so often that say I’M ALIVE or YOU’RE STILL RELEVANT or DO UK WHO’S GOOD RIGHT NOW?

However, all analogies are NOT created equal. The blogosphere is not looking to hang out with you unless you text first… And second and third.

A. because the blogosphere is not real, and

B. i wouldn’t text me either.

When in Doubt… Share Music?

“…I have doubts! I have such doubts!”  

…cries Meryl Streep at the end of Doubt, a film based on the play by John Patrick Shanley.

Similar to Meryl Streep’s character I too have such doubts. Unlike Sister Aloysius my doubts are not the plot redeeming cliff-hanger kind that end movies– the ones that provoke audiences to ask probing questions about faith and humanity. My doubts are about graduation, finding a job, blogging, and other things that I’m just learning I have doubts about in the first place. This leaves me searching high and low for certainty (…i know, duh).

Bordering on unrelated– one thing I find certain are what my sister and I deem “repeat songs.” The ones you must download immediately, go home and look up the lyrics to, and the chords for, and play “on repeat” until exhaustion.

So I thought to myself– what’s the first thing you could think of that you’re motivated and want to share badly enough in order to surefire blog right now.

Music. Always music.

To get the ball rolling, here are my most recent “repeat songs.” Enjoy. Comment. Riff.

Chandelier by Sia

Artistry all over the place right here. My sister sent me this music video a few days ago. She told me it’s imperative that I watch it as soon as possible, basically. She is a reliable source for finding YouTube gems and I can always count on her recommendations. Especially when they involve emotive music icons and wildly impressive contemporary dance routines. Lucky for me– she and I share a weird, possibly genetic, overlap in taste.

I love when this happens.

Chandelier was originally released in March, and the accompanying video last week. I am still not over it. The video features Maddie Ziegler– 11 year old dancer/prodigy and it-girl of the ever-exploitive Lifetime series Dance Moms. This proves that yes, America’s got talent. I couldn’t be happier that Sia hung out in America long enough to cross production paths with everyone involved in this video. Sia’s been around for decades– and yes, she’s always been this weird. I’ll shut up so you could watch the video.

Don’t Wait by Mapei

When I heard this song my first reaction was– YESSSS. This artist is pretty new as far as fame in the US goes. Her single Don’t Wait went viral on YouTube this past October. I heard it a few weeks back (which says nothing about its recency) and YES– it’s super catchy and kills it with lyrical wit. The song is up there with, if not better than, Lorde’s single Royals. I can’t wait to find out what Mapei has in the works.

Chasing Twisters by Delta Rae

Delta Rae was the perfect folk/rock band to catch onto as I phased out of listening to and watching the intense The Civil Wars//Live in New Orleans concert on YouTube to endless avail, for an extended period of time. In an interview with Rolling Stone Delta Rae’s Ian Holljes describes “…chasing twisters in the canyon, chasing something you’ll never catch, is a lot like songwriting for me…” this theme is apparent in all of their tracks. Mysterious, yet catchy, and uplifted… the modern day Fleetwood Mac. Go listen!

Let Me Go by HAIM

LOVE this band. Three sisters from Cali who share a unique and confident appeal in their music as well as their fashion. Fun fact: This song, as well as HAIM’s single– The Wire (SO good) have both been featured in my Monday Night Abs class, for planks and the spinal balance series, respectively. So yeah… Rock on! Check them out if you’re looking for a soft-rock and R&B blend… they’re like 4 Non Blondes + TLC –  the drug allusions.

Explosions by Ellie Goulding

One of the last things I did on my former MBP was upload an “Ellie Goulding Acoustic” playlist onto my phone-pod earlier that morning. Backstory– I had been meaning to do that for weeks, I finally got myself to acquire the mp3 versions of acoustic Ellie classics and add them to my iTunes, because I could listen to them all day, AND if they were on my phone-pod I would listen to them all day. Forward story– I told too many people how relieved and grateful I was that I uploaded my playlist to phone just in time to break my computer, and they gave me the where are your priorities? look. Relevant story– I’m a huge fan. Explosions is the latest track I’ve added to my “love that one” bank… Down to talk Ellie Goulding all day, playlist on repeat.

And with this new computer…

It’s been two weeks and four days since my MBP called it quits. I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on my carelessness, make some goals (and stare at the wall for long periods of time). Now that you’re here, new computer, I am awash with relief; set free from rental services’ firm grasp!

image via.

This is a perfect opportunity to start fresh— to use my computer attentively and with care, not overflow my inbox with junk mail, check for updates automatically and actually download them, and not wait until every task becomes a hefty undertaking because there’s so much crap in the way.

Keeping this new computer clean seems almost too easy. There’s nothing on it. No added programs, no documents, no downloads or folders. This desktop holds no inventory of my past. I can’t search anything because there’s nothing of mine here to search.

image via.

Not for long. One of the first things I did was log into Google, and into I-Cloud, and checked the boxes to remember my passwords; unlike the transient library computers I left behind.

Within seconds my clean slate was tainted wih familiarity. Thousands (literally) of unread emails, reminders, and bookmarks, appeared with almost no effort on my part. This strange machine already took a wild guess (via algorithm) of my instincts. The gap between what I want to do and what I will probably do felt indiscernible, narrowing, and it had only been a few minutes.

No way… I wanted my loaded inventory, the years of desktop clutter, to simply be gone forever. I thought I was ready to accept this new device with empty arms but apparently it’s gonna be another one of those multistep processes.

I’m going to take a leap and rely on step four of the twelve famous ones:

 

Step four is a personal fact-finding process and… this computer rant might as well be included. I am tempted to indulge in the comfort of having nothing to search, nothing to organize or change. I want to take-off in my online  wonder and ignore the irresponsible tendencies that broke my computer in the first place. Can’t do that. It’s all still there, somewhere, even if I can’t find it now, even if I don’t want to.

If I approach my new computer in the same way I did my old one, the outcome is basically inevitable. I could re-build my endless one-dimensional stack of desktop files— the ones with vague labels and questionable purpose that after a certain point I dismiss the need to sort through.

I have an opportunity, in a way, to rewrite my hard drive. I still need to figure out how not to simply abandon the files I deemed too messy to navigate. It took years to develop the corrosion (which, according to the Apple store rep, was eating at my old computer) and now ask myself what can I do to prevent this from happening again? How could I repurpose my computer as a beneficiary of my searching, as opposed to a broadening harbor of emptiness?

Taking inventory is not a thinking process it’s a written one. This short letter is to my new computer, and my old one— a searching and fearless inventory of my old patterns—  before I drop those files in the trash for good.

 

Some people don’t have computers.

On Monday, tea fell over onto my MBP. That’s Macbook Pro if you don’t read Mac forums. I didn’t until now. These forums are like the Erowid of apple products; real interesting folk.

stuff about drugz. via.

I could say SWIM spilled tea on SWIM’s computer… No, really guys, I did it and it’s my fault. But the tea did in fact fall over on its own.

Well, the mug was balanced in a tupperware on my bed. All I did was stand up. Gravity plus a moment of negligence did its business all over my MBP, on the side with all the electro-holes, and that’s the whole story.

does not equal anything.

My bed is not, for the record, one of those memory foam beds where the woman in the commercial is jumping on the bed while her husband is basically dead sleeps peacefully and a glass of wine… doesn’t move at all? I’d love to recreate that scene one day. Not to test the validity of commercial claims …why would someone ever do that? But just for funsies.

Now I can jump up and down all night FOREVER! via.

Already feeling the pejorative gasps from responsible Mac users steaming off the library computer I’m playing with now.

On that note, tip of the hat to McKeldin Library. They allow me to borrow their precarious gear for 4-hours at a time. I do this at least once a day even when my real computer was breathing on its own; great public service.

One day Stephen Colbert and I will be married and I will jump on the bed while he sleeps. via.

McKeldin also gets a wag of the finger. Yesterday I rented one and went to class (-2 hours). Then, I went back to the desk and kindly explained that my computer is in techno-rehab and if there’s any way I could return mine now and take out another one (+2 overtime hours)… I would reallyyyyyy, with extra y’s, appreciate it *creepy wink*.

Follow my math? You don’t have to:

…and if done backwards it’s like I was never there.

I needed time to go back home and actually get work done. And I was beyond eager to check on my MBP water-absorbent rice apparatus… But aren’t we all?

They weren’t feeling it. Actually it took three guys at the desk to explain to me the rental policy; I should understand that if I were to be granted such privilege as to renew my rental there are some students who might not get any computer.

It’s that simple!

Dude it’s not even noon. Everyone is going to be okay. AND you all know who I am because like I mentioned  I’m famous I rent and return computers almost daily like a trained, hungry Pavlov dog.

I returned the rental, and walked away, defeated.

After about 30 minutes of sitting around and evaluating my life choices I rented another one. Same people and no problems.

You know them rules around here… can’t live with ‘em and can’t live without ‘em, I guess?

I think I see my I-tunes library! via.

Stay tuned for the fate of my MBP. Not too concerned because everything is up in the clouds, or the cloud. And the Mckeldin rental crew has got my back… I get it now, only four consecutive hours at a time.

I Study Nutrition… Can’t You Tell?

No. You can’t look at someone and determine what they study. If you can maybe you’re a psychic, or a stalker.

Finance majors don’t stroll campus with tax records on their chest, nor do premedical students have graded chemistry exams taped to their forehead. Nutrition majors don’t have their food proficiency exposed for anyone to ask questions… Wait, we kind of do… Let me explain.

This week I collaborated with my health and wellbeing blogger classmates to decide on a blog challenge. We unanimously agreed that in our respective topics there exists: the perfectionist ____. Whether it be paleo, vegan, or dietician, perfectionists have strong opinions. Obvs.

Despite the title on my degree, let me assure you, I am no perfectionist. This topic made me think, a lot– I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been out to eat with friends who automatically feel judged by me, or suddenly indecisive upon ordering… as if I am thinking about their eating habits.

How do I know they feel this way? Because they tell me at the table.

“I’m laughing so hard I’m not even hungry anymore.”
“Good, because that drink’s gonna cost you!! LOL” Image via.

I am more than willing to discuss nutrition, I love it, that’s what I study, it’s a part of who I am, but please, wait until after lunch.

My naive blogger self found it difficult to sift through “perfectionist” bloggers because… I don’t know… Why should I? Something as essential to life as nutrition. Perfection? There’s no room, given the plethora of nutrition problems out there, for unwarranted criticism about other people’s eating habits. So… for the die-hards who hate on my perfectly healthy friends, kindly, shut up.

Maybe it’s the inner idealist again… Choosing to ignore the mean, degrading, commentary from die hard ___ bloggers that my classmates rightfully despise. Those who call out others on their imperfections and believe someone isn’t for real unless they’re 100%… that’s not cool. And it gives nutritionists a bad rap.

Nutrition is as universal as it is unique, and professional nutritionists are not called nutrition police for a reason. A really good one too.

“…you’re telling me that man’s sandwich was actually whole wheat?!!” image via.

Policing is for stalkers. Policing is not for the Paleo who eats the occasional gluten free cookie; even if that cookie came from a package.

Greetings From Ft. Lauderdale

Well, actually, greetings from NY where I am home with my computer. But I was in Ft. Lauderdale over the past week with my family. Here are some highlights (excluding the _hundred blog post ideas that I scribbled in my notebook, those are for later.)

1. I am no longer translucent! I believe the sun provides more mental and physical benefits than the color (which is now red– but will be tan, and stop hurting, one day) it provides my skin, but either way, I love the beach and the sun, so thank you Florida.

[my mom, sister (left), and I (center), looking tan in the ocean.]

2. I read Hyperbole and a Half, laughed out loud, showed my family, they laughed out loud, and we all agreed that Allie Brosh is quite genius. I am fascinated (and on the DL [down-low] inspired) by her use of simple (in terms of technology) images to convey the most complex emotions, interactions, and life lessons; all with the wonder, humor, and sensitivity of a curious, eccentric, child. Image via. 

[via. “This is Why I’ll Never Be an Adult” by Allie Brosh]

3. I got a mini ukulele in Miami Beach! It doesn’t tune right but I kinda missed my real uke and… why not? [insert family eye roll here]

4. Also in Miami Beach, my family and I walked around after dinner and it was beautiful. The restaurants extend to the curb, luring guests in to no avail; we basically got high off the delicious scents of each and every eatery. Though the city is mostly tourists, at least when I was there, Miami Beach has a unique culture– tan people from all over the world, delicious food, and massive martinis. I think I’d need my pulse checked if I drank one, and I wouldn’t know if my coma would be from the alcohol or the sugar. Either way… good times.

[I have no idea whose finger that is]

5. I found this adorable old couple walking in Delray Beach and creepily took a photo of them from behind. Love is real; especially if you’re over 70 and living in Florida.

[no caption needed. how adorable?]

Sending Love, and Chocolate Milk

In class, this week’s blog challenge was to use an original photo. My first thought was to use an old family photo, which I will, but throwback Thursday sounds better than throwback Tuesday.

Yesterday I was drinking iced-chocolate milk and scrolling iPhoto when I recovered this photo. It was a weird reflection experience. It is iced-chocolate milk, in the same library I am in right now, from March, 2012.

I don’t take many photos, to be honest, but I love how even the simplest of pictures is worth a thousand words then, in this case, I should go back and cut it down to about half of them.

In my last post I talk about feeling comfortable in your skin, growing and changing but always you… why did I take this picture?

Clearly I love chocolate milk with ice.

But I took this picture to send to my dad. He also loves chocolate milk with ice.

I knew that we’d share a moment of long distance connection over this almost ritual totally genetic affinity– and that’s why I took the picture. One could argue this photo is an embarrassment to the beautiful insta-food-gram world, and it is, but at the time it was a creative way to send love via original photo.

I’m starting to understand what it means to bring the private into the public sphere. Drinking chocolate milk, with ice, over time, with photos to prove it… and using technology, however esoteric, to send love.

Where’s my FOMO?

I apologize. It has been a whole week since I appeared on the blogosphere and without further delay I’m back to re-indent my interweb footprint before people start to think I went green or something. If I were to go green, it would be difficult. I’d have to change a couple of my natural inclinations like using to-go cups as half coffee/half hand-warmers… and not do that.

However, I did jump on the kindle train last year and one of the first books I read without-ever-holding was Mindy Kaling’s book, “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” (image via.)

If you own the hardcover book, then the answer is yes, everyone is hanging out without you. Even me. I’m hanging out, with Mindy, on my kindle electro-paper.

Anyway, this post is unabashedly inspired by the FOMO. Fear Of Missing Out that, from what I’ve heard, causes millions of men and women to ask the same question.

If you were to ask me, I wish I had an answer for you, not really, but there isn’t one.

In an article written in the New York Times way back in 2011, columnist Jenna Wortham describes how technology both created and perpetuates FOMO; a problem she claims emblematic of the digital era. I’d recommend reading the article especially if you aren’t familiar with this idea; it serves as a thorough introduction. Then watch this TED talk by Sherry Turkle about how our connectedness with technology has changed the way we think about, and value, our relationships with others and with ourselves.

Then you should probably eat something since it’s been a few hours…

So, FOMO, rather, the ubiquitous use of the acronym, did not exist until “MO,” or perceived MO, was publicized. Hm. This calls for a useful idea of truth (originally shared by keeponlearnin) that explains how something is true by nature of its existence (so… the only thing we have to fear is fear itself…?) This real fear must be based on more than, let’s say, an event one would never have known about otherwise if not for the Facebook.

To be honest though I don’t get tripped up by traditional FOMO. This is not to say I don’t get tripped up by other things like icy snow, or icy ice, or what time is it?, or double negative sentences… but I could probably use a little more FOMO in my life. The way I see it FOMO is one of the driving forces connecting people to social media AND keeping people coming back on a regular basis over long periods of time. I, a professional procrastinator with the internet skills of today’s third grader, am not exactly tight with social media, and my underwhelming fear of missing out has, well, clearly I haven’t been too concerned.

In person I don’t have to think about every word I speak, or movement I make, because I can’t afford to do things any slower I am comfortable in my body, I kinda love it actually (just in time–  literally, tomorrow is March–  for Love Your Body Month). I practice being myself every day; when in doubt you know yourself better than anyone else does. In my Torah study I encounter this idea, which is written into the history of the Jewish people.– growth is about learning by stretching beyond each individual’s own capacity to serve a greater purpose; always creating a more developed version of yourself. From the mundane to the spiritual you spend all of your time becoming more… you. This reminds me of that scene from Bridesmaids…

In the blogosphere it’s… I don’t even know. I feel like I got called up to a gargantuan chalk board, and just by getting up from my seat, my entire hypothetical class thinks I know how to answer a problem, or unlock a door, that in reality I have no idea how to approach (or I lost my swipe again).

I agree– it is difficult to avoid a quick survey of what your 1000 peers on the Facebook are up to these days, and it’s definitely informative, arguably fun-ish… though I do get waves of… is this a little creepy? Do I even know this person, whose mom’s recently added pictures of her family dinner are, now on my screen? As the FB continues to hover, in front of all my other open screens, the only FOMO I experience is the fear of missing out on that assignment I started in a Word document, underneath the Facebook.

I could claim to be both studious and socially in tune enough to disregard social media. But that’s not true. I enjoy social media and am beginning to appreciate the blogosphere with wonder. I spoke to my mom about this and… I guess we’re all still wondering:

MOM: Whatcha up to?

ME: I’m working on my blog

MOM: Cool!! Send me the link when you’re done!!

ME: Okay, for sure mom. Just need to work on this hyperlink thing for a bit.

MOM: Hyperlinking? Is that like internet speed-dating?

ME: No, mom, no it’s not.

Let me know your thoughts on FOMO; is missing out on an online conversation about FOMO a double FOMO? Or, send me links (but not my mom’s version of hyperlinks, please, and thank you).

Blogging, BODYPUMP, and my Birth Announcement

Alright it’s about that time. SET position. Stand with your feet hip distance apart. Overhand grip on the bar; hands about a thumb distance away from each side. All together lets take a deep breath, roll your shoulders forward, up, back, and around. Engage your core by pulling your belly button into your spine, elongate your torso, look straight ahead… and SMILE because it’s Friday!

Are we ready to warm up?

Okay. I guess blogging isn’t exactly like teaching BODYPUMP, a low-weight high-repetition strength training class by Les Mills’ ©, but I must say, going through SET position beforehand… now, I think, I’m ready to blog.

In The Weblog Handbook Rebecca Blood explains how successful blogging stems from activities that each blogger is most passionate about. I immediately thought of BODYPUMP, or BP for us regulars. As I kept reading, I kept thinking, and, well, the two have a lot in common.

With three years of experience teaching BP all I have to do is remember to show up and everything after that comes pretty naturally. Blogging, on the other hand, is new and scary. Here I am, though, hoping my analogy “works out” and that you stay with me.

In my BP classes I often elucidate my thoughts (and a ton of weight-lifting technique) in the public sphere (the campus recreation center). I strive to connect with my participants as we endure the tough workout together. All of our sweaty despair is ultimately shadowed by a sense of collective accomplishment and growth; which only continues to develop over time.

With this blog I hope to serve the same purpose; (without the weight-lifting, unless you have a question about weight-lifting) connect with others while I invite you to critically discuss as well as celebrate the disorder and randomness that affects us all in some way, at some point. Join me as I bathe in the complexities of young adulthood (get dressed) and repeat; learning something new each time.

I endeavor to commit to my blog similar to how I teach BODYPUMP. The biggest changes aren’t always the most obvious but, like Ellie Goulding sings, anything could happen.  

To my BP participants, the Madwoman, and my Writing for the Blogosphere classmates, thank you all for coming and I hope you have nearly as much fun as I do.